Preference Share

Preference shares have a fixed percentage dividend before any dividend is paid to the ordinary shareholders. As with ordinary shares a preference dividend can only be paid if sufficient distributable profits are available, although with 'cumulative' preference shares the right to an unpaid dividend is carried forward to later years. The arrears of dividend on cumulative preference shares must be paid before any dividend is paid to the ordinary shareholders.

From the company's point of view, preference shares are advantageous in that

• Dividends do not have to be paid in a year in which profits are poor, while this is not the case with interest payments on long term debt (loans or debentures).
• Since they do not carry voting rights, preference shares avoid diluting the control of existing shareholders while an issue of equity shares would not.
• Unless they are redeemable, issuing preference shares will lower the company's gearing. Redeemable preference shares are normally treated as debt when gearing is calculated.
• The issue of preference shares does not restrict the company's borrowing power, at least in the sense that preference share capital is not secured against assets in the business.
• The non-payment of dividend does not give the preference shareholders the right to appoint a receiver, a right which is normally given to debenture holders.

However, dividend payments on preference shares are not tax deductible in the way that interest payments on debt are. 
Furthermore, for preference shares to be attractive to investors, the level of payment needs to be higher than for interest on debt to compensate for the additional risks.

For the investor, preference shares are less attractive than loan stock because:

• they cannot be secured on the company's assets
• the dividend yield traditionally offered on preference dividends has been much too low to provide an attractive investment compared with the interest yields on loan stock in view of the additional risk involved